


Seventh

by Izzyaro (Isilarma)



Category: Father Brown (2013)
Genre: 5 + 1, Character Study, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 09:38:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5780902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isilarma/pseuds/Izzyaro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Growing up with six older brothers taught Felicia far more than just how to play cricket.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seventh

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, and no copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> Inspiration is taken from the series three episode 'The Last Man'.

It doesn't take Felicia long to see that if she wants to be heard then she has to make herself heard. Elder brothers are generally noisy creatures, and Felicia has six to contend with. Fortunately she was born with an excellent pair of lungs, which, when combined with being both the youngest and the only girl, means she rarely lacks for attention.

Later George teaches her just how powerful a weapon her voice can be. He teaches her to speak with authority and Alfred shows her how to shine, and by the time Matthew introduces her to the theatre Felicia has learned to command a room as well as any of them.

Still, simply being able to scream so well does come in useful every now and then.

* * *

Felicia is six the first time she beats one of her brothers at anything. Charles was taking it easy on her, as he did every time they played draughts, but she can still see the shock in his eyes. It takes nearly a week for him to talk to her properly, and he still never plays draughts with her again.

Five years later Felicia manages to stop every single ball the twins send at her wickets. Matthew and Peter sulk and give excuse after excuse, but Felicia understands now. She flatters them, and asks them for help with her studies, and plays every other game she can think of until their fragile prides are restored, and wonders if all men are so easy to please.

She doesn't go any easier on them though. She has to keep them on their toes somehow.

* * *

Felicia never understands why everyone finds it so difficult to tell the twins apart. Matthew's voice is a little higher and his nose is sharper, while Peter has a few more freckles and his eyes are a couple of shades darker. Matthew is a spin bowler and a wicket keeper, but Peter likes to be far out in the field, and never puts any spin on his lethally fast balls. They may be identical twins in name, but they're not that identical.

Really, it's not like paying attention is difficult. Felicia knows that George's heroes are Cicero and Cincinnatus of the Roman Republic, just as she knows that Alfred favours Tacitus over Suetonius for factual accuracy, but would read Virgil's Aeneid over both any day. She knows that Charles cherished a brief desire to be a pirate before he settled on the army, and that Alexander always climbs the old oak on the east side of the lake when he gets into trouble. Often it's the little things that are the most important, and so she learns to pay attention to such things.

Years later she takes to telephoning both twins every time that little habit gets her or her friends out of trouble. Neither of them ever work out why she calls them so often.

* * *

One thing that never fails to amaze Felicia is just how easily people underestimate her. She can understand it from her uncles, who rarely see her, and her father, who will never see her as anything but his little princess, but it's downright exasperating when it comes from her brothers. Alexander isn't too bad, he's only two years older then her and knows better, but the rest of them, without fail, come back from boarding school at the end of each term with the utmost confidence in their clear superiority over their little sister.

Felicia's first instinct is to set them straight immediately, but the opportunities such arrogance presents are far too good to waste. It's easy to find out which young lady Charles is sneaking out to see when he thinks he's thrashing her at poker; almost as easy, in fact, as it is to flatter Peter into bragging about what exactly he did to his form master that nearly got him suspended. Harder to manage, but much more satisfying when she does, is the expression on Alfred's face when she finally beats him at chess. It serves them right.

On the whole, though, Felicia lets them, and everyone else, keep their little delusions. Being considered foolish and shallow is too valuable an impression to waste. Felicia considers is a point of pride that the only people to immediately see through the act are her closest brother and a far too insightful priest.

* * *

Felicia has always known that their life of privilege comes with a price. One of her earliest memories is of George sitting down with her and telling her that she must never, under any circumstances, do anything that could possibly disgrace the family name. Society is always watching, he says, and it might seem to forgive the occasional indiscretion but it will never forget. Felicia is a child though, and she nods and promises, and promptly dismisses it from mind.

At least, she does until Charles comes home one day and refuses to look at her, and Felicia never thought anything could make her strongest brother cry but Society does. Society makes Alfred's hands shake, and the twins' smiles fade, and turns George from her loving elder brother into a stranger. Society leaves Alexander clinging to her in the middle of the night when the papers tell the world what a disappointment the youngest son of the family is, and Felicia promises herself that she will find a way to keep them safe.

Felicia learns to play Society at its own game. She is charming and witty and cultured, and she shines like she was born to do. She obeys the rules and wears the mask, and keeps her promise. Society is always watching, but they all have a touch of rebellion in them. They don't judge each other, and nor will anyone else. Heaven help those who do.

* * *

Her brothers teach her many things. History, oratory, sports, empathy, literature, drama, politics. They never once teach her that she is their equal. 

They never have to. She knew that right from the start.

**Author's Note:**

> I love this fandom, and this is my little tribute to the delight that is Lady Felicia. I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
